Apparatus for processing textile fibers



Feb. 6, 1962 E. SCHUTZ APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TEXTILE FIBERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 22, 1959 P W m w.

Feb. 6, 1962 ERSCHUTZ 3,019,490

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TEXTILE FIBERS Filed Jan. 22, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 6, 1962 E. scHUTz 3,019,490

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TEXTILE FIBERS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 22, 1959 mil Feb. 6, 1962 E. scHUTZ 3,019,490

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TEXTILE FIBERS Filed Jan. 22, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENKZP Feb. 6, 1962 E. SCHUTZ 3,@19,490

APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TEXTILE. FIBERS Filed Jan. 22, 1959 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 I awn/r09 3,19,49il Patented Feb. 6, 1962 3,019,499 APPARATUS FOR PROCESSING TEXTILE FIBERS Erwin Schiitz, Kaiserslautern, Germany, assignor to Karnmgarnspinnerei Kaiserslautern, Kaiserslautern, Germany Filed Jan. 22, 1959, Ser. No. 788,332 Claims priority, application Germany Jan. 25, 1958 2 Claims. (Cl. 19-460) The present invention relates to an apparatus for processing textile fibers in the combing and/or roving shop. In my co-pending application Ser. No. 691,402 filed October 21, 1957, now Patent No. 2,948,025, there is described a method and apparatus for processing textile fibers in the combing and/or roving shop, said textile fibers being processed on a plurality of serially arranged apparatuses. More specifically, the textile fiber material is deposited as a sliver and fed as sliver by means of a conveyor to the next processing apparatus at which it is deposited in relatively great length at a point adjacent the inlet side thereof and is subsequently fed to the next processing apparatus or machine. This arrangement also includes the possibility of combining a number of parallel {slivers arranged alongside each other and delivered by a processing machine to combine to a sliver unit and to feed such sliver unit to the next processing machine where it is deposited at the inlet side thereof. The arrangement set forth in my above mentioned co-pending application for carrying out this method is so designed that at the delivering side of the respective processing machine there is provided a conveyor known per se for at least one deposited sliver, whereas at the inlet side of the next following processing machine there are arranged at least two large containers with a depositing mechanism mounted thereabove. The depositing mechanism consists primarily of a carriage movable back and forth above said containers and provided with at least one pendulum feeder adapted to oscillate back and forth, which receives the sliver to be deposited from conveying means known per se.

Such a device makes it possible to feed a sliver or sliver unit to large containers, and to deposit the sliver or sliver unit in said containers in an automatically controlled manner. Inasmuch as each sliver deposit station must have associated therewith at least two containers in order that a sliver or sliver unit deposited in one container can be fed into the next succeeding processing machine, while the other container is being filled, according to my above mentioned co-pending application Ser. No. 691,402, a depositing mechanism is provided which is equipped with two pendulum feeders adapted to oscillate back and forth. This depositing mechanism is controlled in such a way that one pendulum feeder serves for filling one container while the other pendulum feeder is not effective. Thereupon, after completing filling of the first container, the sliver or sliver unit is shifted over so that the previously ineffective pendulum feeder becomes effective and carries out the filling of the second container while at the same time the previously effective pendulum feeder becomes ineffective.

The shifting of the sliver or sliver unit from one pendulum feeder to the next pendulum feeder of the depositing mechanism naturally requires a stoppage of the machine delivering the sliver or sliver unit when during the shift-over the formation of uneven portions in the sliver or sliver unit is to be avoided. While in most instances the stoppage of the respective machine hardly causes any difficulties, with certain processing machines as for instance cards, it is preferred that the machine Will run uninterruptedly, in other words will not have to be stopped for purposes of shifting the sliver or sliver unit. If under such conditions, the sliver during the running of the processing machine is to be shifted from one pendulum feeder to the other pendulum feeder of the depositing mechanism, relatively complicated devices are required which are rather expensive and naturally are also liable to disturbances. 1

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for processing fiber materials in the carding and/or sliver shop, which will overcome the above mentioned drawbacks.

It is another object of the present invention so to simplify the apparatus of my above mentioned co-pending application Ser. No. 691,402 that a continuous deposit of the sliver or sliver unit can be effected without stopping the processing machine depositing the sliver or sliver unit.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following specification in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side view of an apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 1a shows the apparatus of FIG. 1 in a different working position.

FIG. 2 represents a diagrammatic front View of the apparatus according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic top view of the apparatus according to FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of the left-hand end portion of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4a shows likewise on an enlarged scale over FIG. 1 that portion of FIG. 1 which is directly adjacent the portion of FIG. 4.

FIG. 4b is a diagrammatic illustration of the diagonally journalled guiding rollers.

General arrangement The apparatus according to the present invention is characterized primarily in that the carriage forming part of the depositing mechanism is equipped with a single pendulum feeder and is movable back and forth in a longitudinal direction of the parallel serially arranged containers as well as transverse thereto. To this end, the said carriage is arranged on a traveling platform-like frame which extends over the length of the containers arranged at the inlet side of a processing machine and is displaceaole at the upper end of said containers transverse to the longitudinal direction thereof.

A further feature of the apparatus according to the invention consists in that the traveling platform-like frame has linked thereto an elbow-shaped frame with conveying means for conveying the sliver or sliver unit.

Structural arrangement Referring now to the drawings in detail, the device shown therein comprises frame columns 1 arranged above containers 2 for receiving the sliver. The upper end of each column 1 is provided with a. supporting arm 3 (FIG. 4) extending to two opposite sides. The supporting arms 3 serve as support for rails 4 connected to the outer ends of said arms 3. The said rails 4 interconnect the individual frame columns 1 in such a way that a carriage 5 of the depositing mechanism or arrangement which is movable on said rails 4 can move over all containers 2 arranged alongside each other in longitudinal direction of the machine. column 1 rests on two wheels 6 which are interconnected by a transverse beam 7 the length of which corresponds approximately to the width of a container 2. Wheels 6 rest on rails 8 which latter are mounted on the upper end of the containers 2. Each transverse beam has mounted thereon a rack 9 meshing with a gear 14) supported by a Wall of one of the containers.

As will be evident from the above, the frame for the The lower end of each frame movable carriage 5 consists of the frame columns 1, supporting arms 3, rails 4, wheels 6, transverse beams 7 and racks 9. Thus, the frame for the carriage 5 of the depositing arrangement may be displaced transverse to the longitudinal direction of the frame above a row of containers, which are arranged adjacent each other, relative to a second row parallel to said first row and comprising containers 2 arranged adjacent each other. This displacement can be effected by driving racks 9 through the intervention of gears 10 so that the entire frame can be moved, similar to a travelling platform, on rails 8 over the two adjacent rows of containers 2. In the position of the frame shown in FIG. 1, the frame is located over the left row of containers 2 which are being filled, while the slivers or sliver units are being fed from the right-hand row of containers 2 to the next following processing machine. In the position of the frame shown in FIG. In, said frame is located above the right-hand row of containers 2 which are being filled while in this position the slivers or sliver units are being fed from the left row of containers 2 to the next following processing machine.

The sliver or sliver unit coming from the delivering processing'machine 12 first moves onto a substantially horizontal conveyor belt 13 which is followed by two adjacentcooperating cnveyor belts 14 forming, so to speak, a channel leading upwardly and bringing about the transport of the sliver from the conveyor belt 13 to the conveyor belt 15 which extends endlessly over the entire length of the frame, conveyor belt 15 being passed in this way through the carriage 5 of the depositing mechanism. Conveyor belts.14 are arranged in a frame the lower end of which is tiltably journalled at the rear end of conveyor belt 13, whereas the upper end of said last mentioned .frame is near the end of conveyor belt 15 tiltably linked to the frame carrying the depositing mechanism so that the shift-over'of the sliver or sliver unit from conveyor belt 13 through conveyor belts 14 to the conveyor belt 15 will be effected in the form of an elbow lever. Thus, depending on the position of the frame carrying the carriage 5 over one of the rows of containers 2 the arrangement of the present invention will yield an automatic adjustment of the elbow lever formed by conveyor belts 13 and 14. This adjustment will assure a trouble free shift-over of the sliver or sliver unit to conveyor belt 15 passing through carriage 5, because the shift-over distance will remain the same in any position of the frame carrying carriage 5. The sliver or sliver unit discharged by the conveyor belts 14 is transferred to the conveyor belt 15 by means of a diagonally journalled guiding roller and is conveyed by belt 15 to carriage 5 of the depositing mechanism depending on the position of the latter over containers 2. Within carriage 5, the sliver or sliver unit is again caused to change its course by a diagonally journalled guiding roller and is conveyed to the pendulum feeder 16 in the same manner as described in my above mentioned co-pending application Ser. No. 691,402. In contrast, however, to the arrangement of said last mentioned patent application, the carriage 5 of the depositing mechanism according to the present invention is equipped with a single pendulum feeder 16 only which serves'for filling all of the containers 2 arranged adjacent each other in a row as well as the containers arranged in a second row and adjacent said first mentioned row.

Operation The arrangement according to the present invention operates in the following manner. According to FIG. 3, the slivers delivered by processing machine 12 are combined to a sliver unit and conveyed to conveyor belt 13. The further conveyance of the sliver unit is effected through the sliver channel formed by conveyor belts 14 to conveyor belt 15 which moves above row A of containers 2 to be'filled. By means of said conveyor belt 15, the sliver unit is passed to the control roller journalled in carriage 5, and from here is conveyed to the pendulum 4 feeder 16. FIG. 3 illustrates for instance how the filling of containers 2 is effected. The frame with the conveyor belt 15 and carriage 5 is arranged above row A of containers 2 of which latter the first container from the right has been filled, whereas the filling of the second container from the right is being elfected, whereas the further leftwardly located four containers have not yet been filled. As soon as the second contianer from the right has been filled through the intervention of carriage 5 and pendulum feeder 16, carriage 5 is moved over the next adjacent left container and in an uninterrupted operation will then feed said last mentioned container. Subsequently, it will move to the next left container and so on until all containers of row A have been filled. During the filling of the container of row A, the slivers of sliver units are withdrawn from containers 2 of row B and by means of conveyors 17 as they have been shown in FIG. 1 are fed to the next following processing machine 18. When the output of the delivering processing machine 12 is properly tuned to the output of the next following processing machine 18, it will be evident that at the time period at which the remainder of the contents is being withdrawn from the containers of row B, the filling of the containers of row A will have been completed so that subsequently the feeding from container 2 of row A to the next following processing machine 18 can be effected directly, as shown in FIG. 4, while the containers 2 of row B will successively be filled with slivers or sliver units. To this end, it is merely necessary to displace the entire travelling platform-like frame together with the conveyor belt 15, carriage 5 and pendulum feeder 16 from the position above container row A into a position above container row B. The containers of row B will then likewise be successively filled in the manner described above while, in the meantime, the slivers or sliver units will be withdrawn from the containers of row A. As soon as the containers of row B have been filled and the containers of row A have been emptied, a new cycle starts so that a continuous deposit of slivers or sliver units of the delivering machine as well as a continuous feeding for the next following processing machine will be assured. It is, of course, understood that the number of containers arranged adjacent each other in a row maybe adapted to the respective prevailing conditions so that for instance one machine may have two containers arranged adjacent each other only in one row, whereas another machine may have ten or twelve containers arranged adjacent each other in a row.

As will be evident from the above, an arrangement according to the invention makes possible a continuous deposit of the delivered slivers or sliver units with the necessity that the delivering processing machine has to be stopped when the sliver or sliver unit is conveyed from a filled container to an empty container.

It is furthermore to be understood that the present invention is, by no means, limited to the particular construction shown in the drawings but also comprises any modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for conveying textile fibers in form of a strand from one processing machine to another processing machine: two substantially parallel rows of containers for temporarily receiving and storing sections of said fiber strand, said rows being arrangedone behind the other, a depositing mechanism for depositing fiber strand sections in said containers, said depositing mechani'sm including a frame structure extending in a'direction transverse to said rows and over said rows and also including a carriage supported by said frame structure and movable in the longitudinal direction of said rows, said depositing mechanism also including a single pendulum feeder only supported by said carriage and tiltable back and forth for feeding said strand sections in folds into one;

of said rows of containers, firstconveying means for conveyingsaid fiber strand from said one processing machine to said depositing mechanism for depositing fiber strand sections successively first in one row of containers and after filling the same in the other row of containers, and second conveying means for conveying fiber strand sections from the respectively filled row of containers to the other processing machine.

2. In an apparatus for conveying textile fibers in form of a strand from one processing machine to another processing machine: two substantially parallel rows of containers for temporarily receiving and storing sections of said fiber strand, said rows being arranged one behind the other, a depositing mechanism for depositing fiber strand sections in said containers, said depositing mechanism including a frame structure extending in a direction transverse to said rows and over said rows and also including a carriage supported by said frame structure and movable in the longitudinal direction of said rows, said depositing mechanism also including a single pendulum feeder only supported by said carriage and tiltable back and forth for feeding said strand sections in folds into one of said rows of containers, first conveying means for conveying said fiber strand from said one processing machine to said depositing mechanism for depositing fiber strand sections successively first in one row of containers and after filling the same in the other row of containers, said first conveying means including elbow lever-shaped frame means with conveyor belts guiding the fiber strand received from said one processing machine toward said carriage, said elbow lever-shaped frame means being linked to said frame structure, and second conveying means for conveying fiber strand sections from the respectively filled row of containers to the other processing machine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 255,473 Tatham Mar. 28, 1882 2,720,006 Carter et al. Oct. 11, 1955 2,939,184 Watson et al. June 7, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 347,448 Great Britain Apr. 30, 1931 372,624 Germany Mar, 31, 1923 

